''We sort of see ourselves taking on CNN, in a funny way,'' said Mary Salter, Comedy Central's top production executive. She concedes her budget for the Democrats' July 13-16 convention is ''a remarkable small amount.''

''Our real goal,'' Franken said later in a saner, less on-air voice, ''is to really provide an alternative way to watch the convention.''

Comedy Central, seen in nearly 24 million homes nationwide, is a joint venture of Viacom's MTV Networks Inc. and Time-Warner's HBO.

It also plans live coverage of the Republican National Convention, since it more than doubled its ratings in January with unprecedented live coverage and commentary of President Bush's ''State of the Union - Undressed.''

The networks first denied Comedy Central access to their ''pool'' coverage of Bush's speech, but relented under threat of a lawsuit.

This time, Stephen Paul Mark, Comedy Central's chief counsel, said he expects no network objections. ''And,'' Mark said, ''as we did in the State of the Union, we're prepared to pay our fair share of the carrying charges.''

The Democratic National Committee seems willing to give Comedy Central its press credentials. Mark said the DNC's Robert Barocci foresaw no problem getting Comedy Cental the accesses to the convention floor.

''We'll be on the floor sharing a rotating, 20-minute pass,'' Ms. Salter said.